The rock icon talks about the seriousness of his new music, the seriousness of his politics, the most embarrassing moment of his life, and, uh, world peace

Like the brick of ketchup-covered beef from which he takes his name, Meat Loaf is often regarded as dependable, if not especially challenging, American fare. That could change if enough people listen to his latest album, Hell in the Handbasket (out on March 13), a blistering screed about the state of the world and a call to arms to fix it. We spoke to Meat Loaf over the phone about why he got so serious, and how he channeled his frustration into a record. And, somehow, vomit.

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ESQUIRE.COM: You're a bit of TV-news junkie, right? You watch any today?

MEAT LOAF: Oh, not today. I'm in London. I have Slingbox, but I've been doing interviews all day.

ESQ: So I take it you're not up-to-the-minute on the primary?

ML: You know, I'm schizophrenic. I go from CNN to MSNBC to Fox News. I'm neither right nor left, and I'm not sure I'm even in the middle. I have a lot of views to the left, and I have a lot of views to the right, and that really doesn't put me in the middle. I don't know what that makes me. It makes me weird. And the album reflects all of that.

ESQ: Honestly, I thought the album was kind of a bummer.

ML: It is and it isn't, but I believe in Hollywood endings... I've been in the hospital for five days. I only got out last night. I got severe food poisoning.

ESQ: I'm sorry. That's British food for you.

ML: Listen, I was getting ready to do a TV show, and I was one minute away from walking on the set. And, uh, I hurled. Some other things happened, too. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life. Now can you imagine if it had waited two minutes and had happened live on the air, in front of like four million people? All of a sudden, someone asks me a question, and I go, Uhhh, bluggggg.

ESQ: Do you know what you ate?

ML: Uh, well, the album... For the last six or seven years, I've been saying the world has gone to hell in a handbasket. And the reason I say that is not because of Iran getting a nuke or Israel wanting to bomb Iran. In the words of Chuck D [who appears on the album]... I can't remember the words of Chuck D. Don't, uh. War. Oh shiii. I'm so mad I don't have the lyrics.

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I'm not dealing with those subjects. Hell in a Handbasket is not dealing with the political nature of the country. It's dealing with the humanity and the compassion of the world. I can give you an example — I've been banned from two TV shows.

ESQ: So the real issue you're getting at on the album is a lack of humanity and compassion in the world?

ML: Yes, totally. A lack of humanity. A lack of compassion. A lack of self-examination, which is what "All of Me" [the first song] is about — the total disregard for one's own humanity and how he looks at himself.

ESQ: So what's the cause of that?

ML: You know, when you write this article on Esquire, there's going to be a little place at the bottom that says put your comments here. Some people will say, "Great job, Andy." Or Adam? Is it Andy or Adam?

ESQ: It's Adam.

ML: So they'll say, "Great job, Adam." Others will say, "Wow, that was a terrible article." And others will say, "Who cares about this fat slob anyway?" And you'll see that and say, "That's not fair. I worked hard on this. I don't deserve that." Now, that kind of stuff leaks out into the world. It's what causes what happened in the halls in Wisconsin. It's what causes a congressman to yell at Obama, "You lie!"

Also, people don't pay attention. They don't know who George Washington is. They don't know who Abraham Lincoln is. Have you seen Jay Leno? He goes on the street, and people don't know these things.

ESQ: I think they'd know who those two are, but I take your point. Do you think such a serious Meat Loaf album will surprise people?

ML: You know, people think I named myself Meat Loaf, even though I didn't. And they think anyone who would name himself Meat Loaf couldn't have an IQ higher than four. But that doesn't make any sense. Does calling yourself Snoop Dogg make you smart? What about Sting? Or Bruce? Are those smarter names than Meat Loaf?

ESQ: So you think people don't think you're very smart?

ML: Oh, I know they don't think I'm very smart.

ESQ: Is that something you're hoping to change?

ML: Not really. But these are the things I've been talking about a lot lately, for the past five or six years. You know, since the Mayans say the world is going to end in 2012. That's my little joke.

ESQ: Is there a solution to all this madness you're singing about?

ML: Oh, absolutely. Of course. There's a song, "Our Love and Our Souls," and I think those are really the things people need to return to. There's a part in that song where I'm singing about how my car broke down and there's no heat. Then Patti [Russo] comes in and says don't worry about all that stuff. "Nothing lasts forever but our love and our souls." That's what people need to think about. I'm starting to feel like John Lennon here.

ESQ: You do sound very peaceful. Let's talk about something you did on this album that Lennon never did — collaborate with rappers.

ML: Yeah, I wanted to record the song "Mad Mad World," which was first recorded by Tom Cochrane in 1990, as soon as I heard it. Twenty-two years later, I finally did. But I wanted to change it up and eventually decided it needed a rap. Well, I know LL, but he's busy shooting his thing. And Paul [Crook, the album's producer] suggested Chuck D. I was like, "Okay, yeah. How do I get Chuck D?" And Paul said, "Your son-in-law is his best friend." So I called Scott Ian from Anthrax, who's my son-in-law, and told him I needed to talk to Chuck. So he sent an email that said, "Chuck, meet Meat. Meat, meet Chuck," and we exchanged numbers. I talked to Chuck and told him about it, and he said what an honor it was to work with me. I was blown away. Chuck D is the man. He's the king.

ESQ: Do you think your fans are going to be thrown off by the rap?

ML: The ones I've heard from haven't been. I did get an e-mail from one guy who said he loved "Mad Mad World" but stopped it before Chuck D came on. So I had to write him back. I said, "If you go to an art museum and you see a Picasso, but you don't really like Picasso, do you take a razor blade and slash it up? Because that's what you've just done to Chuck D."

ESQ: Did you ever think about doing the rap part yourself?

ML: Oh no. Are you kidding?

ESQ: Yeah.

ML: You'd be surprised how much rap I have in my iTunes. I already had some LL because we're friends. Then I started listening to Chuck D. Then I downloaded some 50 Cent. I downloaded some Snoop Dogg, which is pretty out there for me. I really started to understand it, the poetry of it all.